Space

While the bulk of commercial space launch activity is happening just south of its border, Canada is tired of watching from the sidelines and wants in on the action: The country’s federal transport ministry announced that it intends to support commercial space launches in the near future. The

Private investment in the space economy dropped by 58% in 2022 compared to the year prior, with macroeconomic headwinds battering private and public markets, according to new analysis from New York-based Space Capital. But while 2023 is shaping up to be another hard year for startups, Space Capital

Multiple players in the industry have recently set their sights on direct-to connectivity from space. While it’s still a very early market with limited existing capabilities, companies such as Apple, T-Mobile, Globalstar, SpaceX, AST SpaceMobile and Lynk Global are targeting this area. Multip

Hello and welcome back to Max Q! Last week wasn’t the most successful for spaceflight missions. We’ll get into that a bit more below. In this issue: First up, a botched launch from Virgin Orbit… …followed by one from ABL Space Systems News from Rocket Lab, World View and mo

World View, a company developing stratospheric balloons for Earth observation and tourism, is heading to the public markets. The company announced Friday that it would merge with special purpose acquisition company (SPAC) Leo Holdings Corp. II in a deal worth $350 million, as it seeks to build out

Virgin Orbit, the unconventional rocket company founded by billionaire Sir Richard Branson, said its mission failure earlier this week was due to an anomaly with the rocket's second stage. Although the LauncherOne rocket managed to reach space and achieve stage separation, the anomaly premature

Virgin Orbit's much-hyped launch from Cornwall, U.K. on Monday ended in failure, with the company announcing that the mission experienced an “anomaly” that prevented the rocket from reaching orbit. The “Start Me Up” mission attracted much attention; not only was it the company's six

The Federal Communications Commission regulates lots of industries and practices relating to telecommunications and the internet, but it is now cementing its role as a space regulator by voting to create a brand-new bureau specializing in the topic. Bureaus are the divisions of the agency that hand

Hello and welcome back to Max Q! We’re hitting the ground running at TC HQ, and it seems the space industry is, too — there was a lot of news, which means a lot to get to in this issue! Read on for more. In this issue: A catch-up with Impulse Space SpaceX kicks off 2023 launch with Transpo

In-space transportation startup Impulse Space will head to orbit aboard a SpaceX ride-share mission later this year, as it seeks to prove out its orbital maneuvering and servicing technology for the first time. While there's always major pressure before an inaugural demonstration, there will li

SpaceX is poised to launch 114 payloads to orbit on a Falcon 9 tomorrow morning, the sixth mission of its small-sat ride-share program. But while the rocket company is now an old hand at launches — SpaceX just completed a record year with 61 launches in 2022 alone — for a handful of space start

Hello and welcome back to Max Q. I hope everyone had a restful holiday season and a celebratory New Year. Thanks again to all Max Q readers, whether you’ve been with me for many issues or you’re a recent subscriber. I’m glad you’re here. I’ll be departing from my usual

Another blockbuster year for the space industry draws to a close. In fact, 2022 may have been the most blockbuster year for space in recent memory — since 1969, at least. The historic cadence of SpaceX, the launch of Space Launch System and the return of the Orion capsule, big technical demonstra

We’re going to have to wait a little longer for Rocket Lab’s American debut. The company, which is headquartered in Los Angeles, was due to launch a trio of satellites for radio-frequency analytics customer HawkEye 360 to orbit from the company's new site at Virginia Space's Mid